Tuesday, June 29, 2010 The Nutella Labeling Controversy
Has Some Italians Overreacting

One of the Consumers
Greatest Protection is Information. If you CHOOSE to be a LAZY, STUPID
IGNORANT and Ignore Information, that is your choice, and you can be as
Obese and UnHealthy as you want to be. The rest of us would like to know
what is in our food, and make a considered CHOICE. I have been amazed to
find out from examining labels that food that I thought was "healthy" was
not, and vice-versa.

People are protesting that they don't
want Warnings. But, how is it a Warning, simply to List what is in
a food? If it said "Nutella will make you a fat bastard!" that would be
a warning... It baffles me how people will argue for their 'right' to be
less well informed.

But then again, how STUPID does a
person have to be to Ignore DEATH WARNINGS on Cigarettes?????

I also resent the English (the Plumpest
people in Europe) equating the Nutella Labeling Controversy to Gluttony,
when the height of English Epicure is "Fish n Chips" [that consists
of deep-fried fish in batter or breadcrumbs with deep-fried chipped (slab-cut)
potatoes.]

Fight for Your Right to GluttonyNutella fans are angry at the 'nutritionist
fundamentalism' of a new labelling drive. For which foods would you join
their fight?The London Guardian, UK; Tuesday
June 29, 2010

It's not just the early exit of their
football team from the World Cup that has had Italians up in arms recently.
New draft EU regulations on food labelling " obliging all products to have
their fat, sugar and salt levels clearly stated on the front of their packaging"
have been painted as an existential threat to every Italian's favourite
spread: Nutella.It can't be said to be the most nutritious
foodstuff - in 2008 an advert was banned in the UK for misleadingly portraying
it as a healthy breakfast choice for kids, despite being high in fat, sugar
and oil. But the prospect of consumers being scared off Nutella by continual
reminders of how unhealthy it is has not gone down well in Italy. While
the country is more widely famed for its love of pizza, pasta and ice cream,
its affection for the hazelnut-chocolate paste also runs deep. The cabinet
minister for EU affairs has warned against the risk of "nutritionist fundamentalism,"
while another government official launched a "Hands off Nutella" committee.Which unhealthy foods that you happily
gobble up deserve protection from EU-prescribed warnings? Or do you think
it's right that we be made more aware of what exactly it is we're eating?